Getting Older, Facebook Walls and Twitter Feeds

Today is New Year’s Eve, yesterday was my younger daughter’s birthday, and three months ago I turned 46. And it occurred to me this morning that life is a great deal like a Facebook wall or a Twitter feed.

We spend a lot of time on both these days. They move the world. Polls find that large numbers use them as a major source of news, many as their primary news source. A lot of us older folks keep track of our kids through Facebook in particular (though FaceTime has augmented that in lovely ways). I’m sure the kids keep track of us too, if only to aid in evasion.

There was one month several years ago in which my entire high school class found one another through Facebook. Many of us had not been in touch with more than a handful of our classmates for many years. Suddenly nearly all of us were “together” again, despite having scattered across continents. We’ve stayed together, regularly interacting as a group and forming adult friendships that previously were not so much unimaginable or impossible as simply not the sort of thing anyone would think of in the first place.

So much for the idea that technology separates us.

Despite our sometimes passionate debates over this meme or that news story, walls and feeds are impermanent. You can spend hours crafting the perfect argument. A few days later, it is never to be seen again (well, unless you’re an idiot like Anthony Weiner). No one sees it, no one cares, and everyone’s not only on to the next thing but the next hundred things. This is even worse now that Facebook allows comments on comments: the chances of any of that lasting into the future, presidential legacy-like, are slim to none. Half the people in the main conversation won’t see what you wrote, even when you’re writing it. Participation is entertaining, it’s frequently intense, and then it’s gone.

Much like our lives. For our days pass away like smoke. We are but a shadow, a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

This gets depressing if you dwell on the seeming futility. But “seeming” is the correct word.

All that news? It matters, and is greatly enhanced by the debates we engage in, iron sharpening iron and people being persuaded by thoughts they’d never otherwise have encountered. The world of 1800 was immeasurably better than the world of 1774. A million unrecorded conversations, lost in the mists of history, before, during and after the American Revolution are the reason why. They didn’t make it into volumes of Federalist Papers, but they moved the world and continue to do so. Social media makes the conversation global.

Of course, there’s no need for a comment or a status update to stay in a feed. Those Federalist Papers were once in newspapers I don’t read and wasn’t alive to see. Someone saved them, edited them, put them in books, passed them down. Why couldn’t you do the same for your best work, if only for your grandkids? How many people cherish troves of letters written by a grandparent? How is this any different?

I frequently provoke debates on Facebook for precisely these purposes. Debate makes me better, makes me sharper, hones my arguments. The interaction raises questions I might not have thought of, forces me to write on topics I wouldn’t have considered, demands I substantiate half-formed thoughts with data. Sometimes I’m persuaded by my opponents, sometimes my opponents serve as foils, allowing me to persuade others. But the intended audience is usually the reader of an essay or book then not-yet-written.

Still, it’s the relationships that count the most. Social media has immeasurably enriched all our lives, with friendships we would not have had, opportunities to comfort the hurting, celebrate with the victorious, laugh with the happy, mourn with the sad, teach the simple and be taught by the wise, on a scale never known in all the time of man.

Is its transitory nature, its functional impermanence, its constant change a metaphor, or perhaps a microcosm of, our own ephemeral existence?

Yes. But that is not a bad thing. Rather, the realization of that truth is an opportunity, to better focus on what matters in the moment, and to set aside those moments which might be of lasting value, to create a worthy legacy for those who come after.

When the Emperor Hadrian was asked how he intended to build a wall across Britannia, he answered, “Brick by brick, my citizens. Brick by brick.” Civilization is a whole far greater than the sum of human knowledge or achievement. We all build it, together, every day.

Connect with Rod Martin

Rod is one of our nation’s leading minds. He’s smart, original, and very committed—a combination that one rarely finds.Peter ThielPayPal, Founders Fund, Facebook, Palantir

Rod Martin and [former Howard Dean campaign manager] Joe Trippi are America’s two foremost experts on online politics.Annual Bipartisan Conference of George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management

Rod Martin is a Reaganite-Thatcherite conservative…[and] a man who has spent much of his life ministering to and working for the benefit of others. I know Rod as an advocate for freedom, a leader who understands the real changes we need in Washington, and who has the drive and ability to make those changes happen.Steve ForbesPresident and CEO, Forbes; Former Presidential Candidate

Rod Martin is the kind of dynamic leader who has the knowledge, ability and experience to lead us successfully into the 21st Century. His vision for America is compelling.Gov. Mike HuckabeeFormer Arkansas Governor and Presidential Candidate

Rod Martin literally wrote the book on excellence. Humble yet brilliant, a man of love and compassion, with penetrating clarity he illuminates the world around us, and we are both stirred and enlightened.Dr. Gil AmelioExecutive Committee, AT&T; Former CEO, Apple Computer and National Semiconductor

Rod Martin has a proven track record of overwhelming success. I believe in him strongly.Dr. Ronnie FloydPresident, The Southern Baptist Convention

Rod Martin is a born leader and an outstanding political mind. Anyone who takes him on is going to have a serious fight on their hands.Dick DresnerCelebrated International Political Consultant, Credited With Boris Yeltsin’s 1996 50-Point Turnaround Re-Election

Rod Martin is a man of uncommon vision and character. Ever since I first worked alongside Rod in the early days of PayPal, I’ve been struck by his powerful vision for the future. Rod understands the intersection of technology, politics and culture in a way that few others do.Eric JacksonFormer Chief Marketing Officer, PayPal.com; Author, The PayPal Wars; Founder and CEO, CapLinked.com

Rod Martin wears with uncommon grace an uncanny ability to link his vigorous faith to the practical challenges of both the business world and the political arena. Yet the respect he shows for others carries a warmth and modesty that are both too rare among those who are strong advocates of feisty positions.Joel BelzFounder, World Magazine; Former Chairman of the Board, Covenant College

America badly needs more leaders who really get the future. We need more Rod Martins.Randy TateFormer Deputy Whip, U.S. House of Representatives

Rod Martin is a modern day philosopher-statesman. He is a capitalist intellectual, a conservative iconoclast, a gentle adversary and a kind prophet. He inspires us towards a fresh national vision built upon the original founding principles.José GonzálezPresident, Semila

Rod Martin is not only effective and efficient, but he is also perceptive, wise and gracious. He gets things done. He is a great friend and a great ally.Dr. Ted BaehrPublisher, MOVIEGUIDE®; Chairman, Christian Film and Television Commission

Rod is one of the sharpest, most gracious men I know, and one of the most gifted political thinkers today. His ability to analyze issues and communicate thoughtful insights on them have earned him the respect of people across the political spectrum.Dr. Tom AscolExecutive Director, Founders Ministries, Southern Baptist Convention

I am proud to have been Rod Martin’s friend for a quarter century, and I can tell you that he is one of the finest men and most outstanding leaders in our church and in our country today. He has a knack for turning everything he touches to success.Hon. Paul PresslerRetired Justice, Texas Court of Appeals; Past President, Council for National Policy

Rod Martin is a cornucopian entrepreneur and eutropic thinker whose influence radiates through an array of companies, institutions, movements and churches. A renaissance American, he is also a prolific friend of freedom and faith around the globe.George GilderFounding Father of Supply-Side Economics, Globally-Recognized Technology Guru

If Rod Martin represents the next generation of leaders, America has nothing to worry about.Hon. John Paul HammerschmidtU.S. House Republican Leadership, 1967-1993

A leader and a servant, in public life and in private, Rod Martin strides at the top of his profession, and has nowhere to go but up. He is in the truest sense of the word ‘outstanding’.Hugh O'BrianLegendary Actor; Founder, Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY)

Rod Martin is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished thought leaders today. He is a wonderful mentor, a humble role model, and a deep inspiration for the next generation of scientific innovators and entrepreneurs.Dr. Harald OttOtt Laboratory for Organ Engineering and Regeneration, Harvard Medical School

Rod’s achievements pale beside his character and his brilliance. He sees what others can’t. He leads when others won’t.Jane Russell"40 Most Iconic Movie Goddesses of All Time", Glamour

Rod Martin is one of America’s finest young minds.Dr. Edward TellerFather of the H-Bomb